The present invention relates to the field of brick walls and more specifically to walls made of hollow bricks which interlock and include internal, interconnecting passageways in two planes.
Bricks have been used for millennia for the construction of buildings. For most of that history, bricks have been made solid and of clay or similar materials. This required overlapping courses during construction so as to produce adequate strength. However, brick walls lack earthquake resistance because there is no structural connection between bricks. More recently, it has been possible to make bricks from more convenient materials, such as concrete. This has allowed fabrication of hollow bricks. Several varieties of hollow bricks are currently on the market. Such bricks generally have two chambers in the interior of the brick. To achieve structural rigidity, walls made with such bricks must be constructed over reinforcing rods, especially in areas prone to earthquakes.
A number of patents for hollow interlocking bricks have been issued over the years. U.S. Pat. No. 786,884 discloses a brick with a raised rib around an aperture or passageway on one side or end and a rabbet around the same aperture or passageway in the opposite side or end. The Figures of the '884 patent only show rectangular apertures, ribs and rabbets.
A number of innovations in hollow brick design have been introduced. U.S. Pat. No. 1,522,881 discloses interlocking bricks composed of two brick members connected by connecting members and having matching grooves and ribs on adjacent sides. The structure creates apertures from end to end and side to side.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,093 discloses interlocking bricks having circular openings and notches with ribs at one side and grooves at the other side.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,717 discloses tiles having a plurality of equally spaced through apertures, and side and corner notches. The tiles have diagonal grooves on one side and diagonal ribs on the other side. The grooves and ribs extend between adjacent apertures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,313 discloses octagonal, hollow bricks with recesses in their bottom surfaces and ribs in their upper surfaces. The structure creates apertures from end to end and side to side.
With rectangular bricks, when it is desired to create a corner with an angle of other than 90.degree., there is always an angular gap or overlaps at this corner. When walls are made of hollow bricks, they can be reinforced with rods or posts or filled with concrete or both. None of the above listed innovations is intended to be used in this way. Furthermore, none of the above listed innovations interlocks in two different planes. Moreover, none of the above listed innovations provides interconnecting passageways in two planes. Lastly, none of the passageways in the above listed innovations can be used for installation of plumbing or electrical supply lines and the like.
Development of a hollow brick which interlocks in two different planes and provides interconnecting passageways in two different planes represents a great improvement in the field of brick design and satisfies a long felt need of the builder.